My drive to make art always involved mystery, irony/absurdity, complexity and visual delight. It still does. But I needed to find a way to make work that referenced world problems, human nature and cultural complexities/ symbols and how nature works and what nature needs. I needed a teaching tool, even if I was the teacher and the only student. Discovering a way to make work which would solve this desire and need came to fruition at Lichtenberg Studios
So, at the Studio in 2019, I made an initial group of 25 intervention paintings on fabriano paper representing 25 varying human skin tone colors that I noticed on residents within the district. Each (30 X 22 inches) piece, painted in acrylic, with explanatory text were installed in the district; in vacant lots, billboards, empty storefronts…anywhere I could install and get away with it. Each was left in place to be viewed, stolen, destroyed or degraded by the elements. During and since the 2019 residency, this series of interventions has evolved into an important series within the body of my work.
Arriving back to the residency in April 2025, I continued the project where it had originated… at Lichtenberg Studios. For this second residency, I researched the area while immersing myself in the daily life of the borough. I explored and thought about the mundane, the domestic, the visual, the political and the existential in this location.
Fascinated by construction activity in Lichtenberg such as the functional “pipes” 4 meters in the air, the particular detritus on the street, lace curtains in windows, massive buildings, the S Bahn, the “East Berlin” flavor of the district as well as the local flora and fauna (Linden and Chestnut trees, crows and wood pigeons). I also spent time talking with local citizens. All of the above provided inspiration about the place. Simultaneously, I created, installed and documented 11 distinctly different intervention pieces for/in Lichtenberg.
In addition to the intervention series, making a group of “fugitive” or “transient” tabletop sculptures was also a product of the visit. Two of these transient sculptures were placed in the public space of the district. The components of the sculptures were made by assembling detritus from the area, found objects in the studio and some art materials.
That first Lichtenberg Studios Residency (directed by Uwe Jonas) in 2019 has profoundly influenced my art life. It brought me and my work into the public space. Since then and currently, I have researched, created, installed and documented over 180 art interventions in New York City, the Hudson Valley, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC as well as in many locations in Europe such as Paris, London, Margate, Cologne, as well as Berlin.
